Vehicle



March 19, 1940.

T. PETERMAN VEHICLE Filed April 15. 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l Tfzeoczore aPeirm J March 1940- T. A. PETERMAN 2,194,322

. vmucw I Filed April 1'5 193? a Sheets-Sheet 2 P t nted Mar, 19" 1.940

PA EN -ibEFE I Q Q i v Theodore A.Peterman, Tacoma, Wash.

*ApplicationApril 15, 1937, Serial N o.'1 37 ,1 07

I I t 13 Claims. (01.2 041)? The present invention relates-to vehicle con structions and more particularly to wheel suspensions and draft riggings of especial utility in vehicles, which are drawnover uneven or hilly terrain, and in, which it is desirable to minimize vertical movements of the vehicle bodiesand road shock transmitted from thewhe'els In the'transportation oflogs a trailer is ordinarily connected to a. special truckbody by a '10 relatively long draft'tongue, and the trailer and truck bodies are provided with'jmembers, com-,

monly known as bunks, to engage the logs, usually by actuallycutting into the lowermost logs to 7 some extent, 'so that theyconstitute in effect a supplementary draft connection between the truck and trailer. I

When the unit is loaded, therefore, there are in effect two draft connections between the truck and trailer units, andhence' when the truck be 39 gins'to ascend or'descend a hill, -oreven when it passes over more slight inequalitiesin the terrain,

there is a tendency to elongate one of these draft connections and compress the other. In such vehiclesas they have heretoforebeen constructed, 5 this-action has caused the logs to be abraded by the truckand trailer members engaging them, so that the loadwill no longer be firmly seated upon the vehicle units. Furthermore the relativemovement between the logs and' the'ir supports has 3 tended to disturb the entire load and has rendered it unsafe to pile logs sufliciently high to take ad vantage of the full capacity of the truck and.

trailer, lest theload be upset by such a' disturbance.-

It is also desirable in such vehicles to provide means for minimizing disturbance ofthe. load by minor unevennesses in the terrain encountered'by the several Wheels of the vehicle,"since such provision will nctonlypermit'the vehicle to be, loaded to nearer its capacity without risk of upsetting or. disturbing the load, but will'render any vehicle more smooth-riding,

"Having in mind the foregoing and other de ficiencies of vehicles of this general character it 15 -is an object of. myinvention; to'provide' a wheel sus'pension bymeans of which the weight of the vehicle may .be equally borne by the road'wheels under all conditions of operation; i

f'A -further object of the invention istoiprovide "The novel features characteristic of my inven-v -55 tion-are setforth with particularity in the appended claims.

0 a wheel suspension which will minimize lateral The invention itself however, together with additional objectsand advantages thereof, will be bestfunderstood from the following description ofspecific embodiments thereof,

when read in connection with the accompanying 5 drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a log transport trailer and truck embodying my invention, aportion of the truck body-being cut away to permit the important details to be shown l0 on a larger scale; I

Figure 2 is a View in side elevation of the trailer structure, on a larger scale, together with a portion of the draft tongue; I I Figure 3 a plan view of a portion of the .16

trailer structure, illustrating the wheel suspension and'draft, tongue connection;

Figure 4'is a viewin rear elevation of the trailer structure of Figures 1 to 3, illustrating further details of the wheel suspension;

- j Figure 5 is a viewinplan of a. modified form of wheel suspension; and

Figure 6 is a sectional view of-the modified form of wheel suspension shown in Figure 5, taken on the line 66 ofsaid figure. 7 In'order to prevent relative longitudinal movement between' such a vehicleand its load as declivities and slight rises, aswellas hills, are encountered I have found it most practicable to permitsufllcientrelative movement between the truck and trailer at their draft tongue connec tion to render it unnecessary for the logs to slide over their; bunks on either the truck or trailer.

This can be'done because the logs'themselves 0011- I stitute, as pointed out above, a supplemental draft "connection between the truck' and trailer .when

the vehicle is loaded, and it is therefore unnecessary to provide'a normal 'draftrconnection of sun ficient strength to pull the load; The normal draft connection is called upon-only to pull the weight of the unloadedtrailer andguide the same,

when loaded,-*and may therefore be made sufficiently resilient to permit the necessary relative movement. I

For this purpose, I prefer to provide, as shown in Figure I, a draft tongue H] which is freely slidable within a guide sleeve ll integral. with the frame of the'trailer l2, andwhich isv resiliently connected thereto by means comprising a clamp I3'secured to the draft tongue it at a suificient distance from theendof sleeve I! to permit all necessary movement within the said sleeve of the draft tongue; The clamp i3 18,111,1311111, con- "nected, to the frame I2 of the trailer by a plu- "rality of draft rods" I4 (see also-Figures 2 and 3) e5 secured at one ,end to the clamp l3 and passing through resilient members l5 of rubber or similar material and through an aperture in the upstanding lug l6 integral with the frame of the trailer l2. An enlarged portion ll of each of the draft rods serves to place the members I5 under compression when any compressional force is exerted upon the'draft tongue Ill, and discs I8 secured on the ends of the draft rods lds'erve to compress the members It: on the opposite sideof lug, 16

when apull is exerted upon the draft tongue l0. Members [5 are in eachcase capable of being compressed sufficiently easily. and a sufiicient amount to prevent any relative longitudinal i' movement between the logs 20, supported on the bunks comprising I beams 2 land 22 on the truck and trailer frames respectively, and the said" bunks, especially inasmuch as the edgesof llhe beams 2i and 2-2 in contact with the logs tend to cut into. the latter and resist such movement.

Inorder to minimize lateral swaying as well as vertical movement of the load as the wheelsof the trailer encounter uneven terrain it is desirable to provide-a wheel suspension which will permit any of the supporting Wheels .to rise in passing over a bump, stone or the like, or to lower in passingover a depression, without correspondingly raising or lowering the overlying portion of r the frame and its load. This is particularly important in connection with a trailer structure of the present character because the front end of the draft tongue in is connected to the frame of the truck '25 by pivotal means permitting pivotal movement in any direction, such as the ball and socket joint 26. Therefore the raising of one side of the trailer would not have any tendcncy to raise the same side of the truck as would thecase were they rigidly connected but, in-v stead, the truck end support of the logs would undisturbed and the load would be tipped" this type, such a wheel suspension must be simple and rugged in construction. I therefore prefer-' ably provide an equalizer, preferably in the form of a beam 355 at each side of the trailer frame, pivotally mounted thereon at 38 in the main cross member 32.

lower suspension links 35 and 36 the free ends of which arepivotally connected by wheel hub supporting members 37 and 38 respectively. It

,will. be apparent that with this arrangement a given vertical movement of one of the wheels 40.

carried by. said wheel hubsupporting members, will result in only half as much vertical movement of the end of the beam Ill) to the end of which the supporting links 35 and 36 are pivoted, and that only one quarter of the vertical movement of the wheel will be transmitted to the pivot 3|o1' the beam v ill and thence to the load.

In the modified form of. wheel suspension shown in Flgures 5 and 6', somewhat diagrammatically, the same reduction of vertical movement transmitted to the load is secured, with a smaller number of parts'by mounting the front and rear pairs o-fwheels 4B each'on a single link 4| pivotally mounted at 42 on a beam-43 pivotally Pivoted on said beam 30 at each end thereof, at 33'and 34 (Figure 4) are upper and I mounted on the trailer, frame at 44.

Referring further to Figures 5 and l it will be seen that'an adidtional feature of the present f construction is found in the'provision of, side bearings 50 for the bunk, one of whichis disposed at the illustrated location'iat' each side of the 1 trailer. I fIl 1esebearingsare mounted on the frame asshown in Figure' 2 receive the entire, weight of .the load disposed upon the I beam 22of therear bunk upon which is'mounted the plate member "1* 52 overlying said bearing. As shown-in Figures 3 member 32"directly, over thewheel mounting and,

and; theI beam,22, theplate member 52, and the Ibeam" supportfis constituting the bunk are'retained in position-by a pivotal'guide pin 55 se;

cured in the main frame member 32, and are, 2

resiliently retained in proper position with respect to the bearingtil'by lugs-5.5 depending from the support 53 and retained between rubber aligning I nmemberstl by a pin 58' secureditot he frame "member 32 and passing through alug 59, on frame member-32, and aligning members l.;;,By

this resilient structuretorque strainsjduringl turning movements are minimized and the structure is automatically realigned at'theirf completion.

Although, a specific embodiment'and single .modification of my invention has beendescribect herein, it'will be apparent to those skilled in the art to-which the invention appertains,that many modifications thereof are'wpossible', and it is unrderstood-that the invention isnotto be considered as restricted to the. forms shownexcept inso-1 far as is necessitated by the priorart and by the 5 spirit of the appended claims.

Iclaimz -1. A vehicle-wheel suspension ,comprisingf an, equalizer, a plurality ofpairs ofwheel supports, ground. engaging wheels rotatably mounted onsaid wheel supports, and a plurality'of pairs of suspension links pivotallymounted on said-equalizerand pivotally' connected to said wheel sup- Ports. U I Y 2. A vehicleflwheel suspension comprising an 1 equalizer, a plurality of pairs of wheel supports,

vground engaging Wheels rotatably mounted} on said wheel supports, each pair of wheels being V in substantial alignment transversely of said equalizer, and a plurality ofpairs of suspension links pivotally mounted on said equalizer and pivotally connected to said Wheel supports.

3. A wheel suspension for vehicles comprising airame, an equalizer mounted to pivot about an j axis on said frame, a pluralityof pairs of suspension links mountedto pivot about axes 'onsaid' equalizer substantially normal to the pivotal axis upon which said equalizer is mounted,- and-a pair of; ground engaging wheels supported upon each of saidipairs of suspension links 'by pivotal 1 connections the axes of which are parallel to the axes of the pivotal connections between said links and said equalizer. v v 4. A wheel suspension for vehicles comprising a mounted on saidequalizer to pivot about axes substantially normal to the pivotal axis upon which said equalizer is mounted and radially-spaced from said axis, a second pair of suspension links mounted ,on said equalized to pivotlaboutaiies substantially normal to the pivotal-axis cnrwhich said equalizer is mounted and radially spaced from said axis adistance equal and opposite-"to- .frame, an equalizer; mounted to pivot about an; axis on said frame, a pair .of Suspension li k a frame, a longitudinally extending equalizer beam p-ivotally mounted thereon, having arms disposed at each side of said pivoted mounting, a pair of suspension links pivotally mounted adjacent each end of said equalizer beam in vertically spaced relation with the beam extending between the links of each pair, apair of road wheel supports pivo-tally connected to the opposite ends of each of said pairs of suspension links, and road wheels rotatably mounted on said supports.

'6. In a multiple wheel vehicle having a frame supported by a plurality of wheel suspensions, a balanced wheel suspension comprising a pivotal mounting on said frame having a fixed axis disposed at a right angle to the direction of movement of the vehicle, an equalizer beam pivoted at substantially its midpoint on said mounting, and

substantially identical means adjacent the oppo-" site ends of said beam and equidistantly spaced from said pivotal mounting for mounting road wheels on said beam comprising pivotal mountings on said beam adjacent the opposite ends thereof and equidistantly spaced from saidfirst mentioned pivotal mounting, each having a fixed axis disposed at a right angle to the axis of said first mentioned pivotal mounting, suspension links pivoted on the pivotal mountings on said beam, wheel supports carried by said suspension links, and road wheels rotatably mounted on said wheel supports.

'7. In a multiple wheel vehicle having a frame supported by a plurality of wheel suspensions, a

wheel suspension comprising a pivotal mounting on said frame, having a fixed axis disposed at a 'right angle to the direction of movement of the I on .said beam, wheel supports carried by said wheel suspension comprising a pivotal mounting suspension links, and road wheels rotatably mounted on said wheel supports.

8. In a multiple wheel vehicle having a frame supported by a plurality of wheel suspensions, a

onsaid frame, having a fixed axis disposed at a right angle to the direction of movement of the vehicle, an equalizer beam pivoted at substantially its midpoint on said mountin a plurality of plyotal mountings onsaid beam adjacent the opposit'e ends thereof and equidistantly spaced from. said first mentioned pivotal mounting, suspension links pivoted on the pivotal mountings on said' beam, wheel supports carried by said suspension links, and road wheels rotatably mounted on said wheel supports.

9. In a multiple wheel vehicle having a frame supported by a plurality of wheel suspensions, a wheel suspension comprising a pivotal mounting on said frame, havinga fixed axis disposed at a right angle to the direction of movement of the vehicle, an equalizer beam pivoted at substantially its midpoint on said mounting, a plurality of pivotal mountings on said beam adjacent the opposite ends thereof, each having a fixed axis disposed at a right angle to the axis of said first mentioned pivotal mounting, suspension links pivoted on the pivotal mountings on said beam,

7 wheel supports carried by said suspension links,

and road wheels rotatably mounted on said wheel supports. r

i 10. In a multiple wheel vehicle having a frame supported by a plurality of wheel suspensions, a wheel suspension comprising a pivotal mounting on said frame, having a fixed axis disposed at a right angle to the directionof movement of the vehicle, an equalizer beam pivoted at substantially its midpoint on said mounting; a plurality of pivotal mountings on said beam adjacent the opposite ends thereof, suspension links pivoted on the pivotal mountings on said beam, wheelsupports carried by said suspension links, and road wheels rotatably mounted on said wheel supports.

11. In a multiple wheel vehicle having a frame supported by a plurality of wheel suspensions, a wheel suspension comprising a pivotal mounting on said frame, having a fixed axis disposed at a right angle to the direction of movement of the vehicle, an equalizer beam pivoted on said mounting, a plurality of pivotal mountings on said beam each having a fixed axis disposed at a right angle to the axis of said first mentioned pivotal mounting, suspension links pivoted on the pivotal mountings on said beam, wheel supports carried by said suspension links, and road wheels rotatably mounted on said wheel supports.

, 12. In. a multiple wheel vehicle having a frame supported by a plurality of wheel suspensions, a wheel suspension comprising a pivotal mounting on said frame, having aifixed axis disposed at a right angle to the direction of movement of the vehicle, an equalizer beam pivoted on said mounting, a plurality "of pivotal mountings on said beam, suspension links pivoted on the; pivotal mountings on said beam, wheel supports carried by said suspension links, and road wheels rotatably mounted on said wheel supports,

13; A vehicle suspension comprising a frame, an equalizer beamcentrally pivoted on said frame, a first equalizer link centrally pivoted adjacent one extremity of said beam, a wheel spindle on one side of said beamconnected to one end of said first link, a second Wheel spindle on the other side of said beam connected to the other end of said first link, a second equalizer link centrally pivoted adjacent the other extremity of said beam, a third wheel spindle on said one side of said beam connected to one end of said second link, and a fourth wheel spindle on said other side of said beam connected to the other end of said second'link;

THEODORE A. PETERMAN. 

